FOREIGNER
The Roundhouse, Camden, London, UK - 25th July 2010
Line-up: Foreigner + Europe
Review by Jon Wilde
This gig was part of the iTunes Festival, designed to celebrate and promote a wide variety of top and not-so-top selling artists from across the world (and promote iTunes too, of course). Ozzy Osbourne had already played a show a few weeks before, so it was good to see another proper rock entry in the list; with 1980s chart maulers Foreigner and Europe matched together on this pleasant July evening.
I hadn't taken much notice of which band was headlining, so it came as a real surprise to see the flags out for Europe when I got into the main room of the awesome Roundhouse (see here for more about the building). Europe have been setting the UK on fire since the release of their latest album Last Look At Eden (2009). They've played countless sell out gigs and, from my experience, their stage show is yet to disappoint, so it was a surprise to see them playing second fiddle to Foreigner.
The show at the Roundhouse wasn't the best display of theirs I've seen, mainly because they were on stage for only a short period of time. Europe are all about the big show, the big spectacle, the guitar solos and the rest of the frippery. Their songs speak for themselves, but it's the way Joey et al make a spectacle that sets them apart. With a shorter time period, it felt like more of a rush job than normal. Anyone who hadn't seen them before would have had every right to be blown away because, let's face it, this is still Europe. Even when they aren't their best they still kick most band's arses. I do recommend though, that anyone who caught them at the Roundhouse should check them out properly when they return to the UK in February 2011. If you thought an hour of them was good, wait until you get the real deal!
Foreigner...Ahhh, I'm a big fan of theirs. I've never caught them live before, but their album's contain some phenomenal tracks and I've been dying to see them for years. The line-up is changed nowadays - the most obvious alteration being the replacement of original front man Lou Gramm with Kelly Hansen. Reports of Kelly's live pedigree have ranged from the poor to the amazing, so I was unsure what to expect. Fortunately, I was not disappointed.
Looking like a cross between Steven Tyler and Jim Morrison, and sounding like a more gravelly, more powerful version of Lou Gramm, Kelly owned the stage from the moment who opened his ridiculously tuneful mouth. The tight yellow trousers were a trifle unnecessary, but the songs were brilliantly performed.
Mick Jones, the father of Foreigner, can still play a mean guitar, a mean keyboard, and even sing a decent vocal. Jeff Pilson is a monster on bass, Michael Bluestein and Jason Sutter do a superb job on keys on drums respectively, and Thom Gimbel was a god on flute and guitar...and have you ever heard a better sax solo than the one in 'Urgent'?! Moment of the night though was the vocal build up in 'Waiting For A Girl Like You'. It gave me shivers down my spine and big girly goosebumps all over. Very few songs ever do that, which is probably a good thing. Kelly Hansen absolutely OWNS this song in a way I doubt even Lou in his heyday could touch.
So yeah, overall, this was a good gig and a very pleasant introduction to the ways of Foreigner. Hopefully a lot of the people in the crowd who weren't 'fans' of either band to start with are now.
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